Cal running back Jaydn Ott set up the main narrative for the Golden Bears’ Week 2 matchup with Auburn football by calling out the Tigers’ game film and claiming that what he is seeing doesn’t match up with the Auburn brand.
“There’s a lot of focus on the name Auburn,” Ott prefaced before saying, “But what I see on film is not really in comparison to what their name is. I just want to get that into my guys’ heads that a name doesn’t mean anything.”
Ott is coming off a two-touchdown, 188-yard rushing effort, with an additional catch and 13 yards through the air, in Cal’s 58-21 drubbing of North Texas at DATCU Stadium in the DFW. Before that, he rushed for 897 yards on a 5.3 rush-per-carry average with eight touchdowns for Cal during the 2022 season.
Cal running back Jadyn Ott just gave Auburn football the bulletin board material they need
Hugh Freeze has made it a point to call out the travel necessary to get his Auburn football program out to Berkeley, California, and given his values, he likely isn’t all that excited for the trip. The main reason he hates the travel is the late start: 10:30 PM ET and 9:30 PM CT.
Freeze won’t have to worry too much about his guys not being fired up now, because Ott just gave every player on the roster extra motivation to show up and show out at California Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers’ defense definitely didn’t look as sturdy as it needed to in AU’s first game against UMass, getting marched on in their first drive and losing focus on a touchdown from the Minutemen’s backup. But it was Week 1, and there’s a lot more confidence from Ron Roberts’ unit now that the UMass result is in tow.
Ott has a metaphorical target on his back now from AU’s defense, but the entire roster should take what the Cal RB said personally and use it as fuel to jet past the Golden Bears on their home field.